Enterprise Nation

At the tender age of 23, Lauren Crawford has achieved a great deal. She’s a hand woven textile designer who operates from an insulated Scandinavian style log cabin. It’s from there that she operates a rather large weaver loom and has sold a collection to US department store, Macys.

Did you start the business whilst you were studying or after graduating?

On graduation, I accepted the Designer in Residence position at the Art College, where I continued to refine and enrich my design thinking and advanced weaving skills. My creativity was stimulated and tested in my role as mentor and workshop enabler with undergraduate students.

I then gained work experience within the textile industry. Placements have included working at Salt, London, where I assisted with fabric finishing and the organisation of textile collections, orders and exhibition PR. I also worked with Andy Ross at asf Shetland and James Donald at PickOne, Edinburgh. Building on my Residency role, I have set up my own label business as a hand woven textile designer.

Where does your interest in hand woven fabrics come from? 

My keen interest in weaving started at school, which prompted my desire to obtain an honours degree in Textile Design. There isn’t any fashion influence as such from my family, however my gran and auntie were weavers in a local company throughout the 60s.

Can you tell us a bit about the log cabin you had built at the bottom of the garden to house your work?

The cabin is a Scandinavian style log cabin.  The walls are 45mm thick and both the floor and roof are insulated.  The external dimensions are 4.5m by 3.5m.  The doors and windows are also double glazed making it a secure environment to work from. 

Through personal resources, a loan from the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT) and other Start Up funding such as creativefife and Business Gateway, I was able to purchase a second user loom from AVL in the USA.  My loom has a 48” weaving width and a computer attachment, which means I can weave wide width fabrics and complicated patterns.

Do you have plans to sell via your own site?

Yes, my products will be sold on line through my own website, which I am looking to launch for Christmas.  I also plan to sell through Internet vehicles such as Velvet Boutique.

You produced a line for Macy’s, which is very impressive – how did this contract come about?

After graduating I exhibited at New Designers in London, which enabled me to exhibit at Direction Show in New York.  Direction is a leading exhibition of textile design, dedicated to the selling and licensing of design works for all dimensions of the fashion industry.  At Direction, I successfully sold designs to Macys, the world famous department store.

What are your plans for 2009?

My plans are to:

• Prove a Product and Personal Brand Image and awareness around the packaging of my Scottish designed and hand woven product portfolio.
• Develop collection for men.
• Extend product range to include home furnishing accessories such as cushions, throws and blankets.
• Develop a revised web site to enhance the visual impact and presentation of my product that also offers the opportunity for impulse purchases via my own site or other sites such as Velvet Boutique.
• Establish a client base of 30 outlets in the UK.
• Create my place in the network of Scottish based Designers and Weavers

Good luck to you, Lauren. We’ll be watching with interest!

• Lauren Crawford